Five enthusiasts, armed with metal detectors, trudged through the thick, wet mud last week in search of the engraved ring.

At first, they got plenty of bleeps but unearthed only bottle tops, loose change and other bits of metallic junk.

But miraculously, two hours into the painstaking search, lucky club member Dave Baker managed to find it.

SWNS
Matt has been reunited with his wedding ring.

Matt, of Backwell, Somerset, said: “It was buried about a foot deep in really deep, clay-like mud. It’s amazing that they found it as it’s such an enormous area to search. I was pretty surprised to be honest - I had started to give up hope.

“I’m delighted to have it back.”

He added: “My wife had given me a cheap, five euro ring to replace it which has obviously been removed now and the original is back on.”

Matt said he was devastated when he lost the ring a few days before his 13th wedding anniversary - and wife Rachel, 46, who works in HR, wasn’t too happy either.

He said: “I was swimming with the kids at Clevedon Marine Lake and I got over to a raft in the middle. When I climbed up, I realised it was missing.

“I was genuinely gutted. It is just a ring at the end of the day, but it was just a few days before our anniversary on August 16.

“I had a quick look for it but the lake is massive and it is very muddy water - you can’t see anything. There was no chance I’d find it.”

Luckily, resourceful Matt, who runs the Achievement For All children’s charity, got in touch with Morley Howard, who is head of the metal detecting club.

Matt, who is dad to Thomas, 11 and Rosie, 10, said: “They offered to turn up and have a look and five of them did.

“They looked where I thought I had swam across and then one of them decided to look by the pontoon where I had climbed.